"A Spatula?"

A spatula lifting a puzzle segment

A while back, while working on a jigsaw puzzle with a friend, she asked for a spatula. I’m sure my confusion was evident on my face – we were working on a puzzle, not on dinner. However, it was easy enough to head to the kitchen for the tool (after confirming that I had correctly heard her request - a spatula?)

Now, my friend and I have different approaches to jigsaw puzzles anyway – I start with the border, having already put the interior pieces right-side up in trays. My friend opens a box, grabs some pieces, and starts finding connections. Both methods work; they’re just different.

So knowing our different ways of seeing the puzzle, I was curious to see how a spatula was going to play in. She had been working on some small segments of the puzzle while I was working on the border. Knowing the approximate location where her pieces would land, she used the spatula to lift the portion into the whole. Such an obvious and simple way to integrate our efforts!

Life can be like this: we can all be working in our own ways to shine light, to share faith, to do good in the world. We see things differently, and we work on different things and in different ways. But with healthy and effective communication and intentionality, we can find ways to come together to make a difference, to contribute to the whole, to share of our efforts.

It likely will not use a spatula for each task, but the tool for cohesion may be equally simple and unexpected. We may not feel that we are doing a huge amount at any given time, but every contribution augments the whole. We may not see what everyone else is doing, or when, but we trust that good is happening; and we know that our contributions may not always be seen.

But when we do what we do for the sake of goodness, we are committing to the big picture. When we are willing to think outside the box for ways to bring our contributions together, we are committing to the community. When we live out our faith to the best of our ability, we are committing to shining the light of Christ in the world.

It may not be a lot, but it matters. As Desmond Tutu said: “Do your little bit of good where you are; it's those little bits of good put together that overwhelm the world.”